See Sea(lions), Si!

At 2pm on my last full day in P. Madryn I strolled nervously down to Scuba Duba where I donned a suit made of rubber. While no farmers from the midwest were involved I was still pretty nervous. (For those in the dark - during my summer working as a door-to-door salesman in the states my hard-sell approach got me into a scrape with some farmers who were very much into wearing S&M and fetish gear). I´d not dived for four or five years and couldn´t remember what the bejesus the rules were or how to use the kit. The guy in the shop, Santiago, assured me all would be well and so I waddled across the road to join Bruno and, the ships captain, Carolina on the beach.

On the journey out to Punta Loma I was shown some caves where the Welsh settlers had used to cosy up in when they arrived, told some history of the Southern Sea Lion colony we were about to visit and some information on the boat. Despite my insistence there was prescious little information about how to use Scuba gear. What I did get was a quick run through of "this does that, that does this, run if you see a shark!". As the ship had dropped anchor I could see we were close to the colony, but I had no idea if they would come into the water nor what they would be like - playful and fun or a bit shirty.

It was with some trepidation that I put on my mask, flippers and tank and tumbled backwards into the icy cold water. Once I got my breath back and got the old BCD inflated I waited for Bruno (the only other person on the dive with me) before we descended beneath the waves. The visibility was pretty good and I was starting to get used to the equipment and to adjust to being under the waves. However, the lower we went the more I felt like I was in the middle of a horror film. Out of the corner of my eye I could see flashes of movement but when I turned my head to look there was nothing there in the gloom. I felt some genuine fear and started to wonder why they were called sea LIONS.

We got to the bottom (about 6m) and found a flat leafy patch to sit and suddenly we were surrounded by several sleek and swift bullets of blubber. My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at what I was seeing before me and I kept forgetting to breath such was my amazmenet. They were beautiful and elegant with massive eyes and long whiskers that gave them the appearance of a soggy labrador begging for food at the dinner table. At first I was pretty nervous, but I mellowed as their curiosity and proximity increased. I reached out to touch one and it nibbled at my fingers with its sharp dirty teeth. I could also feel them nibbling at my head, arms and legs. (I had been told to expect this as its kinda how they communicate).

Suddenly, after a few minutes of us getting to know each other, a shadow descended on us and I looked up and saw a bloody enourmous submarine of a Sealion - at least 4 times bigger and meaner and darker looking than the ones playing with us. I looked at Bruno and he gave the handsignals for "Male" and then for "lets give it flippers out of here". We swam on for 10 or 15m and the smaller sea lions followed us and we carried on messing about, however, it wasn´t long before the big man was back making sure were weren´t messing with is harem. We moved on again and the Alpha males tailed us, so after about a total of 35 minutes down there with them we ascended to the surface. At the top many of them broke the surface and looked a bit miffed we weren´t playing anymore, but with the big grey blur still below us it was time to go back to the boat. Plus, I was bloody freezing.

Back on the boat, satisfied no doubt that we were buggering off, I could see the males drag his big fat ass back onto the rocks. As Carolina fired up the boat and I slurped on some hot chocolate I looked into the water and could see loads of them at the surface looking a like a playful pup waiting for you to throw a stick, but who knows that you´ve already turned for home. I gave them a little wave goodbye and grinned, my mind blown, as we gunned it back to shore.

Some Snaps